Friday, January 31, 2014

I have finally completed series 11! The white Yokozuna figure
was the most difficult to find, but it is finally home. With this one, I
have now all figures complete with its accesories except the mail-ins.

Yokozuna (real name: Rodney Agatupu Anoai) is a repaint of the same figure released only one year earlier in series 8. The original figure had black and red pants, while this second version had black and white pants. The original figure was very impressive with that huge body, which was a complete new cast only for that figure. It surely sold many units, and maybe for that reason made that the white Yokozuna sold less than their counterparts in wave 11. If a boy bought Yokozuna in 1993, it is unlikely, that the same boy bought it again in 1994. The same happens with Crush #3, to my opinion, these two are the rarest figures in wave 11, or at least the ones which I have seen less in auction sites.

The figure looks bulky and strong, but it actually has one of the most fragile gimmicks from all figures. It is very difficult to find it in good shape. First problem is the articulation in the waist. It tends to loose with the use. Second point is the movement, that has some defect, that makes it end in a lower position than it started (this problem is common to many figures with that same movement). Third, paint gets damaged on its bottom, where the sumo pants are "tied", and on its belly. These three points are critical to grade mint (not carded) figures.

The next figure is Billy Gunn (Monty Sopp), one of the members of the Smoking Gunns. This is, in my opinion, one of the worst figures in the whole collection, since it uses the body of Jake "the Snake" Roberts, but the head is not very well casted. The neck has something strange.

The second member of the Smoking Gunns is Bart Gunn (Michael Polchlopek), whose cast is the same used for Razor Ramon. Both this and the previous figure wear cowboy hats, and these are relatively fragile, the most fragile part in the figure. It cannot be removed, so sometimes it has been forced or deformed by pressure.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

These two cars are among the oldest Guisval I own, but surprisingly,
they’re in mint condition. Perfect, complete, no paint chips… probably
two of my most valuable Guisval models.

The first model is the Monza G.T. This car was already included in the first catalogue of the die-cast manufacturer from Ibi. In the catalogue it appeared in white, although it was available in many different colours and also combinations of two different colours. Another Monza G.T. made by Joal was already shown here. The wheels of the car reveal that it is one of the very first models, although there were later reeditions, until 1976. The latest version was orange.

The next pictures shows another model, quite playworn, in two colours. The interesting thing about the second model, is that it has the "newer" type of wheel hubcaps, as commented above.

The second model had at least
two versions three versions This is one of the first, but a few years after its
release the same model was released with a white spoiler and the plastic headlamps were only two instead of four. additionally, the front practicable pat (the trunk) had disappeared (the cast was
modified to avoid those plastic bits and practicable trunk). The third version came without any plastic headlamps (and of course, no practicable trunk) This second and third models came with other
type of wheels (the ones you see in the orange Monza GT above), and are quite rare nowadays.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

As a kid, when I was maybe four years old, I
got a Hot Wheels track. It had the form of an X, with two launchers on two
edges and two rubber bands on the opposite sides. By pushing the big red
buttons on the launchers, two cars would accelerate towards the middle of the
track, and sometimes they would collide with each other. The first car was an
american police car, the second one a red sports car.

The interesting part of the game was the cars.
They belonged to a special series of Hot Wheels! called "Crack Ups".
Then they crashed, some part would change its aspect to simulate a real crash.
In this case, one front door of the police car and the front of the runaway
sports car passed from looking "normal" to "wrecked". The
good thing about it, is that they could be repaired again for the next crash:
those parts were fix with a spring, that allowed to turn it in a way that one
of two sides was visible, and the opposite side remained hidden, creating an
amazing effect.

The Police Car can also be decorated as a taxi
or fire chief car. In this case, I own the white (Crash Patrol) and also the
light blue (Crunch Chief) versions, both with police decoration, and both from
1985.

As you can deduce from the description above,
these cars had quite a rough play. They are difficult to find in good
condition. Although I lost mine, I have later found the same models I had in
good condition. The "Cruiser" is especially fragile, since the bonnet
of the car is made of plastic, and it is sometimes missing. There are various versions made of this model: the four depicted in the picture below and even more that I do not own.

Basher in yellow from 1985

Stocker Smasher in red from 1986

Smash Mobile
in Maroon from 1986

Smash Mobile
in blue from 1986

These series was, I think, quite successful,
since there were many models with this feature made in later years. The two
models described above were the first ones (1985), but later, more models were
released, all of them with many different decorations, colours and
tampographies. Cars were available in individual blister packs, or in special
boxes with playsets, like the one shown at the beginning of this article.

Apart from these two, I also have some models
that I am presenting now:

Top Bopper in silver (top crash) from 1985Bangster in green (top crash) from 1985

200SX Smash Hit in green (rear crash) from 1985

Side Grinder in black (side crash) from 1986

In case I
find more, they will be posted in this same entry.

UPDATE:

Sport Crasher in black from 1985

UPDATE2 (JAN/2017): Patrol Crash with a different base. I bought it to resell it, but now I will keep it. This one seems to be more modern.